While a victory would help boost the sagging morale of the Congress, which is on a downhill journey losing state after state since Narendra Modi came to power at the Centre, defeat in Karnataka, the only big state it rules apart from Punjab, may further slowdown the momentum for the party.

The election to the Rajarajeshwari Nagar seat has been deferred to May 28 after the seizure of fake voter cards from an apartment. Any party or alliance that secures 112 seats can stake a claim to form the government. If exit polls are to be believed, JD (S) with around 40 seats could hold the key to the next government in Karnataka.

India TV-VMR exit poll has predicted hung assembly in Karnataka. It says that the Congress is likely to get 97 seats, the BJP 87, the JD (S)+ 35, others 3 seats.

The Congress is led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the opposition BJP is spearheaded by BS Yeddyurappa. It predicts 82 to 94 seats for the Congress, while the JD (S) and others will get 18-31 seats and 1 to 8 seats respectively.

The Janata Dal-Secular of former Prime Minister H.D. Dewe Gowda, which has been expected to play the role of a kingmaker in the event of a hung Assembly, was leading in 43 seats. Some have said the Congress, led by its chief ministerial candidate Siddaramaiah, will emerge as the single largest party, while some have given the single largest party tag to the BJP.

For the BJP too, the results of the Karnataka assembly elections are crucial for showing that it is not just a cow-belt party. JD (S)+ is gaining, with leads on 16 seats for now.

Conversely, for the Congress Party and JDS, the only way to form the government would be to approach the governor promptly with proof that they have support from the majority of the MLAs, which should not be a problem given that the two parties have 114-115 MLAs between them, three or four more than required.